The next morning's classes were just as uneventful as the previous day. After classes, Sun promptly met me as promised and led me to the dueling club. The building resembled a Roman colosseum, and a young man sat at a desk in front of it.

"Fight or watch?" the man asked.

"Sign up," Sun replied.

The man produced a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to me with a slight smile. I filled it out and returned it to him, but then he said, "You need to pay a 1000 credit registration fee."

Just as I was about to tell him that I couldn't afford that, Sun placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "She is signing under a direct recommendation of me, Sun Wukong."

The man's eyes widened at the mention of Sun's name. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Wukong. I didn't recognize you. You are good to go. Would you like to schedule a match now?"

"She's not all set," Sun said. "As she was recommended by one of the Ten, she gets a signing bonus, doesn't she?"

The man gritted his teeth slightly. "My apologies, you are right, Mr. Wukong. Her signing bonus is 1000 credits because you hold the number 10 spot."

The man handed me a gray card, which he explained was my signing bonus and all future winnings would be deposited directly onto it. Sun escorted me to a small kiosk in the Colosseum and walked me through scheduling my matches.

“You should start with Rank 97, Fierro Burns, as a way to test your strength,” he suggested.

I nodded and requested a match with Fierro Burns. “Okay, I’ve sent the request. What do I do now?”

“Now, we wait and see if he accepts. It shouldn’t take too long,” Sun replied.

Just as he finished speaking, a message appeared on the screen: “Match accepted. Time: immediately. Location: Arena A.”

“Well, that was quicker than I thought,” Sun chuckled. “I’ll escort you over to the arena.”

As we walked, Sun explained the rules of the Dueling Club. But he only had a few moments to tell me about my opponent. Fierro Burns was a Tier 2 Path of Destruction Mage who mainly focused on fire spells. Who would have guessed?

Fierro towered over me, with a messy mop of brown hair and a cocky smirk on his face. Despite only being ranked above three people, he exuded an air of confidence. He taunted me as I stepped into the arena, offering to give me time to prepare spells.

“I’m fine, but you can take a moment if you need to,” I replied calmly, returning his crossed arms with my own.

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Fierro's expression twisted in anger at my words, “You're going to regret not taking my offer,” he growled.

The bell signaled the beginning of the match, and Fierro charged at me with a Firebolt spell. I swiftly dodged, barely escaping the flames by a hair's breadth, thanks to my superior agility. When I activated the Precision Strikes skill this time, it showed me where to strike by glowing, leaving the rest up to me. Despite my precision, Fierro managed to dodge my attack with equal speed.

But I didn't lose hope. I started chanting the Mineralized Warrior spell and summoned the towering rocky warrior, which punched Fierro. However, he remained unfazed and countered with a fireball, destroying my spell. As he launched another Fireball at me, I narrowly avoided it using the Mist Clone spell.

It was time for me to take the offensive. I weaved around his attacks, landing punches and kicks with the Precision Strikes skill. As Fierro fired another Fireball at me, I knew I had to end the match quickly. I began continuously chanting the Mist Clone spell, ordering the three mistlike figures to disperse and surround Fierro in mist. He frantically looked around in the mist, giving me the perfect opportunity to strike. I ran up and hit him in the gut, causing him to fall in surprise. I quickly pinned him down with my foot, winning the match.

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as I was declared the winner. Fierro glared at me as he got up, brushing himself off, and stalked off the arena. Sun rushed up to me, clapping me on the back.

"You did it! That was amazing!" he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

I received a notification from the system.

I smiled and dismissed myself as I headed back to the dorm. I decided to check my stats.

HP

5/5

Level 3

EXP

0/200

Mana

22/22

Strength

4

Intelligence

22

Agility

7

I now had enough information to confirm my theory. It was just as I thought, stats increase at each level based on my actions in between levels. Which means that the longer it takes me to level up the more my stats can increase. Now I just needed to figure out why my health has yet to increase. Perhaps it is like my mana which is tied to my intelligence, but none of my stats are a five like my HP.

Feeling confused by my stats, I decided to focus on something else. I cast the Warden spell and instructed it to check on Mr. Moon. Specifically, I wanted it to determine if he had a mask on his person. After a short time, the Warden returned to me and tapped my forehead.

I saw Mr. Moon pacing in front of the Disciplinary Office, holding a white mask in his hand.

"I know X said she would be here when I was done," he sighed. "But how will she know that I did it? I worked really hard."

I smiled, realizing that I would be seeing him sooner than expected. If I played my cards right, I could solve this case by morning.